Phoenix police officers help homeless family living in tent

Officers Brian Wood and Josh Roper with the family at the Phoenix police station. (Source: Phoenix Police Department)

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -

Two Phoenix officers went above and beyond the call of duty last week after stumbling upon a family of three living in a tent pitched on Salt River Project (SRP) property.

Officers Brian Wood and Josh Roper, who work in the Maryvale Precinct of the Phoenix Police Department, spotted the tent while off-duty and found a mother, her husband and their two-year-old son living in very close quarters.

The family told Wood and Roper they had been homeless for nearly six weeks. The family had traveled from Louisiana to Arizona looking for seasonal work, but when the season ended, the family they had been staying with lost their house. After moving around from place to place, they ended up in a tent, which they had been setting up in different locations.

Wood and Roper spent hours looking for a shelter for the family on their off-time. Because of partnerships with Watkins Family Shelter and The Society of Saint Vincent De Paul through the Phoenix Police Department, along with some donations, the officers were able to secure three bus tickets back to Louisiana.

The family boarded the bus Thursday morning to return home, and plan to stay with family in Louisiana.